4/13/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College baseball team, for the first time in ten days, will play a baseball game. In fact, they'll play two, when they travel to Schnecksville, PA to take on the Lehigh Carbon CC Cougars in Region XIX doubleheader action on Wednesday, April 13^th. The first game is set for 1:00pm ET, and the second will follow at 3:30pm ET.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (13-8, 4-0) have not played since April 3^rd, when they split a doubleheader against Salem Community College. Lackawanna had games against Northampton, ASA Brooklyn, and Delaware Tech all get postponed due to the nasty weather that hit the northeast last week. Lackawanna College was, previously, coming off a weekend in which it went 5-1, with four of those wins coming in Region XIX play, and every game on the road. The Falcons scored 48 combined runs in a sweep over Raritan Valley, including 27 runs in game two of the doubleheader. You can read the recap HERE. Then, the Falcons traveled to Randolph, NJ to take on the County College of Morris Titans, and got a pair of wins, thanks to a Kyle Scott gem and some late-game heroics. Read the recap HERE. Finally, the Falcons were on the road one more time, taking on Salem Community College in Carneys Point, NJ. The Mighty Oaks blanked the Falcons in game one, but Lackawanna got a measure of revenge with a 13-2 victory in game two, earning a split of the doubleheader. Read the recap from those games HERE.
 
Lackawanna is hitting, as a team, .363 so far this season, with a combined 1.055 OPS. They have 71 extra base hits, including 46 doubles and 24 homeruns already this season. They're slugging .601 as a team, and have stolen 35 bases so far this year. The Falcons have a .454 OBP on the year, and are averaging just over eight runs per contest this season.
 
On the mound, the Falcons are holding their opponents to a .271 batting average, and have a staff ERA of 6.36 this year. In 133 combined innings, the Falcons have given up 145 hits and 108 runs, 94 earned, while striking out 150 batters and walking 82. The Falcons have picked off six base runners so far this season, and have turned six double plays, while committing 33 errors as a team so far this year.
 
Quinn Hanafin is the team leader in batting average, hitting .561 so far this season in his 18 appearances. Hanafin has a 1.530 OPS, and is the team leader with 32 hits on the year. Hanafin also leads the Falcons with ten doubles so far this season, and he has 14 total extra base hits. He's first on the Falcons with 26 RBIs, and leads the team in total bases with 53. His .930 slugging is tops on the squad, among players who have played in twelve or more games. Hanafin has ten multi-hit games so far this year, and has recorded a hit in 17 of his 19 appearances so far this year. Hanafin was 3-for-6 with two runs scored, a double, and an RBI against Salem on Sunday.   
 
Cody Fleischer has a .477 batting average so far this year, and is second on the team with a 1.302 OPS. Fleischer is second on the squad with 31 hits so far this season, and leads the Falcons with 31 runs scored on the year. Fleischer's 19 RBIs are second on the team, and he's got nine extra base hits on the season. Fleischer's .564 OBP is second among players who've played in twelve or more games for the Falcons, leads the team with 13 walks this year, and is tied for second on the team with four steals so far this season. Fleischer was 2-for-7 with two runs scored, three RBIs, and a homer in two games against Salem.   
 
Leadoff hitter Daniel Helfgott is hitting .368 on the year, and is tied for third on the Falcons with 14 hits so far this season. Helfgott has scored eleven runs so far this season, good for second on the squad, and has an OBP of .429 so far this year. Helfgott went 2-for-5 in with a double, a run scored, and an RBI in the first game against Monroe last Tuesday. Helfgott missed action this past weekend.
 
George Castro is hitting .293 on the year, has a 1.053 OPS, and is slugging at at .683 on the year. Castro is third on the Falcons in RBIs (13), and is the team leader in homers (4) this season. Castro was 2-for-6 in two games against Monroe, with a homer and three RBIs in the second game, all courtesy of a three-run homerun to left field. Castro played in one of the games against Salem, going 0-for-3 against the Mighty Oaks.  
 
Eli Riley, in eleven games of work for the Falcons, is hitting .441 on the year, and has a 1.322 OPS. Riley has 15 hits, good for fourth on the squad, and 18 runs scored, also good for fourth. Riley has a .735 slugging percentage, and has six extra base hits on the year. He also has four stolen bases on the season. Riley was 0-for-2 against Salem in one game this past Sunday, but was 4-for-9 with five runs scored, five RBIs, a double, and a homer against Morris in two games on Saturday.
 
Aiden Starn leads the team in innings pitched at 18 so far this year. Starn is 1-1 in four starts, giving up 24 hits and 18 runs, 14 earned, while striking out 12 batters. He has a 7.00 ERA on the year, and opponents are hitting .296 against him. Starn pitched a complete, seven-inning game against Raritan for his first win of the year, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits and striking out a season-high seven batters.  
 
Kyle Scott has pitched 15 innings so far this year, holding a 1.80 ERA and a 2-0 record in four appearances, three starts. Scott has struck out a team-high 28 batters, and has allowed eight hits and three runs in his action. Scott's last appearance was the start, and win, over Morris, where he went a complete seven innings, giving up just one hit, a homerun, while striking out a season best 14 batters in a 12-1 win for the Falcons.
 
Jason Carpenter has pitched 13.1 innings so far this season. Carpenter has given up 18 hits and 13 runs, ten earned, while striking out ten batters on the year, and has an ERA at 6.75. He's 0-2 in his four appearances. Carp went three innings against Salem in a 3-0 loss for the Falcons on Sunday, giving up five hits and three runs, but walking a season-high five batters.
 
Dan Petrouskie has pitched ten combined innings on the season, appearing in five games, two starts, and going 2-0 with a 10.80 ERA. Petrouskie has allowed 15 runs, 12 earned, and 17 hits, while striking out 13 batters. Opponents are hitting .354 from against Petrouskie on the year. Dan got the win in game two against Raritan Valley, pitching four innings against the Lions, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits, while punching out a season-high six batters.
 
Matthew Stam has pitched eight innings in his three appearances so far this year, giving up five hits and three runs, all earned, while striking out six batters. Stam has a 3.38 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .200 against him so far this year. Stam got a win earlier this year, going four innings in relief against PSU New Kensington, allowing just three hits and striking out five batters. He pitched two innings of relief against Monroe in his last game, giving up two hits and a run.
 
Samuel Daniels has been great for the Falcons this year, appearing four times, once as a starter, and allowing just four hits and a pair of runs in 9.2 innings of work, all while striking out 16 batters, third on the team. Daniels has a 1.86 ERA so far this season. Daniels got the win on Sunday against Salem CC, going three innings, and giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out three batters.  
 
Coach Mike McCarry enters his fourth season at the helm for Lackawanna College. McCarry has helped elevate the Falcon program in his short time, guiding Lackawanna to a pair of NJCAA World Series appearances in his first three seasons, one of which was shortened and ultimately cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before his time at Lackawanna, McCarry was the pitching coach at Stephen F. Austin and LaSalle Universities. As a pitching coach with both schools, he had multiple pitchers sign professional contracts, and, especially in his time at LaSalle, McCarry brought four NJCAA All-Americans to be a part of the Explorer program. Before that, McCarry spent his time in baseball in the Philadelphia Suburbs in Bucks County with Central Bucks West and the Colts Collegiate Summer Team. McCarry is a Keystone College graduate, where he played baseball for Jamie Shevchik and the vaunted Giants program. McCarry is 91-42 in his career at Lackawanna College.   
 
About Lehigh Carbon CC
The Cougars have struggled so far this season, entering the contests with a 1-8 overall record, and an 0-6 record in Region XIX. They've lost their last six in a row, and were last in action on Tuesday, April 12^th, when they fell to the Montgomery County CC Mustangs, 16-2, on the road.
 
Lehigh Carbon is hitting .208 as a team on the year. The Cougars have struggled to put runs on the board, scoring just 28 in their eight games, a 3.5 runs per game average. Lehigh Carbon has seven doubles and one homerun on the year, and the Cougars have struck out 68 times this season, versus just 23 walks. The Cougars have a collective .558 OPS, and are slugging just .256 on the year.
 
Lehigh Carbon has struggled to keep teams off the board, allowing 10+ runs in six of their seven losses, including four times where an opponent has scored 20+ runs. The Cougars have a collective 17.03 ERA, giving up 133 runs on 114 hits so far this season. In 49.2 innings of work, they've struck out 36 opponents, while walking 54, and have given up seven homers. Teams have successfully stolen 39 bases against Lehigh Carbon this year. The Cougars have committed 22 errors in eight games this year.
 
Andrew Sorrentino leads the Cougars in hitting this season, with a .400 batting average and ten total hits heading into the game with Montgomery. Sorrentino has a team-high .440 slugging percentage, and is second on the team with a .423 OBP. He's second on the team in both OPS (.863) and RBIs (4), and third on the squad with five runs scored. Sorrentino has three multi-hit games on the year, and was a combined 3-for-7 with one run scored and one RBI in the two games against Mercer.  
 
Noah Snisky is second on the team with a .381 batting average, but leads the team in OBP (.500) and OPS (.881), heading into the Montgomery game. Snisky is tied for the team lead with six runs scored, and is second on the squad with eight total hits in his eight games. Snisky has a pair of multi-hit games, and was 3-for-6 with two runs scored in the two games against Mercer.
 
Conor Howard is third on the team, hitting .240 so far this season, heading into the Montgomery game. Howard is third on the team with six total hits, and is tied for the team lead with six runs scored so far this season. He's the only Cougar to hit a homerun so far this season, and is one of two players with two extra base hits. Howard leads the team with two steals so far this season. Howard was a combined 2-for-5 with three runs scored, a pair of walks, and two stolen bases against Mercer.
 
Anthony Balestrieri is hitting .200 overall on the year, and has five total hits so far this season, heading into the Montgomery game. Balestrieri has a pair of RBIs so far this season, and has scored three runs so far this year. Balestrieri went 2-for-6 with two runs scored, a double, and an RBI in the two games against Mercer.
 
Trent Viola is hitting .227 on the year, heading into the contest against Montgomery. Viola leads the Cougars with five RBIs this year, and has five total hits, including a pair of doubles this season. Viola was a combined 3-for-6 with four RBIs, a run scored, and a double against Mercer County in two games.
 
Heading into the Montgomery game, Andrew Sorrentino had seen the most action for Lehigh Carbon on the hill. Sorrentino, in three appearances, has gone 1-2 with a 6.55 ERA. In a team high eleven innings pitched, he's allowed eleven runs, eight earned, on 13 hits, striking out eleven and walking four. Sorrentino was last in action against Mercer County, getting the start against the Vikings but lasting just one inning, giving up four runs on four hits.
 
Conor Howland has made two appearances, both starts, and is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA so far this year. In nine innings pitched, Howland has allowed 17 runs, nine earned, on 18 hits, with a team high 12 strikeouts. Before the Montgomery game, Howland's last appearance on the bump was a start against Northampton, where he went four innings, giving up ten runs, five earned, on eight hits, while striking out four batters.
 
Quentin Crossin has appeared twice on the year, both times in relief, and holds a 7.71 ERA on the year. Crossin, in seven innings of work, has given up 17 runs, six earned, on 17 hits, while walking five batters. Before the Montgomery game, Crossin's last appearance was against Mercer in the first game, going 3.2 innings, and giving up ten runs, four earned, on eleven hits.
 
Carter Koch has made three appearances, just one as a start, going 0-2 with a 12.86 ERA on the year. Koch, in seven innings, has given up 19 runs, ten earned, on 14 hits, while striking out five batters for the Cougars this year. His last appearance was as a start in the first game against Mercer, going 3.1 innings, while giving up eight runs, two earned, on six hits, and striking out a pair in the loss.
 
The head coach for Lehigh Carbon is Cody Krupa, in his first year in charge of the Cougars program. Krupa came to Lehigh Carbon after nine years at King's College, where he served in various capacities as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator, and hitting coach for the Monarchs. Krupa also served as an interim head coach for the Monarchs in the 2020 season. Krupa helped revitalize the King's program, helping them to the MAC Freedom playoffs in every season since 2016. With Krupa as hitting coach, the Monarchs led the Freedom Conference in hitting, with a combined .319 team batting average. Krupa is a King's alum, earning a bachelor's degree in Accounting.
 
Game Information
The first game of the doubleheader against Lehigh Carbon is set for a 1:00pm ET start at Stabler Field in Schnecksville, PA, with the second game scheduled to follow at 3:30pm ET. There is no video livestream available, but the Falcons Baseball Twitter account will have live updates. Follow them at www.twitter.com/FalconsBase.
 
The Falcons get back to work on Friday, April 15^th, when they travel to Connecticut to take on UConn Avery Point in doubleheader action. The first game is scheduled for 1:00pm ET in Groton, CT, and the second will follow around 4:00pm ET.